With this upcoming election less than 30 days away, many Americans are conflicted about who to vote. From recent news, we know that Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz will be running for office, replacing President Joe Biden on the ticket for the Democratic Party. As for the Republican party, our candidates are Donald Trump, a well-known former US President, and Senator JD Vance, representing Ohio. Both candidates seem unfit for the younger generation, but analyzing both campaign plans can show which candidate is more fit to run this country in our current political climate.
The Democratic Party and their plans
Kamala Harris is the current VP of the United States and was a part of the U.S. Senate, California’s attorney general, and San Fransisco district attorney. She is America’s second Black woman and South Asian woman to be a Senator representing California and the first Black and Asian woman to be VP. Since her time working in politics, she has spoken out about abortion rights, climate change, free healthcare, and government assistance for lower-class families. Harris has had several controversies though, the most prominent being a rumor that she lied on cases and withheld evidence during her time as San Fransisco’s District Attorney. This was soon proven false but instead, it was proven that Harris helped small-time offenders get rehabilitation (Back on Track program) which was stated in a CBS News article written by Brandon Downs. Tim Walz is the current governor of Minnesota and Harris’s running mate in this election. His ideals are the same as his running mate, but his priorities mostly lie in helping the Midwest’s rural areas and ensuring children are fed and clothed.
The Democratic plans are laid out in a CNN article by Tami Lubby and Way Mullery. However, in an Associated Press article by Josh Boak, their economic plans are more in-depth which is something older voters may worry about. Something her younger voters worry about is how she feels about the Israel and Palestine conflict and even though she is calling for a cease-fire, she fully supports Israel. She has said they have a right to defend themselves which was covered in an NPR article by Jaclyn Diaz. This idea of hers is something younger voters have criticized a lot which makes other candidates a lot more favorable. Still, it is something we cannot avoid as Donald Trump and his team also support and believe in the genocide of the Palestinian people. Both Walz and Harris are at least fighting for a cease-fire, but even though some of her ideals make her and Walz unlikeable, what does the Republican Party look like now?
The Republican Party and their plans
Donald Trump is the current candidate for the Republican Party and is the 45th President of the United States. He owns the Trump Organization which holds all of his business ventures and investments and has around 250 affiliates connected to the organization. During his time as President, Trump has made it clear what his stance on immigration is which is a huge critique some Americans have about Trump. During a couple of Trump’s rallies, he called illegal immigrants “illegal aliens” during multiple rallies in 2016. This sparked a lot of his criticism from Democrats and Republicans, and that criticism has stayed since 2016 which is when he first ran for POTUS. The most recent comment we have heard about immigrants was during one of his rallies in February where he addressed immigrants who were incarcerated as “illegal aliens”. The former president also has 30 felony charges against him which is one of his most recent controversies due to most of the charges being sexual abuse related. J.D Vance is Trump’s running mate who is not far from controversies either which has made his approval ratings plummet with Trump’s ratings go down as well. His most notable controversy that sparked criticism from the Left and the Right is the fact he called women without children “childless cat ladies” in an interview. This comment doesn’t sit well with people, especially his stance on abortion and how he wants to rule out abortion in every state.
In the most recent events such as the Presidential Debate and Vice Presidential Debate, Trump and Vance revealed their plans for the presidency with the most controversial plan being the mass deportation. During the debates, Trump and Vance dehumanized Latino immigrants which also added to the reasons to vote Democrat but what are their actual plans looking like? With this chart that was made from the debates, we can see the differences between the Harris-Walz campaign and how they would deal with these issues. Abortion is another issue that makes the Harris-Walz campaign more likable because of the tantrum Trump had on stage where he accused the Democrats of killing babies after birth. Vance hasn’t talked much about the wars happening but Trump believes he could end the wars, especially the Hamas and Israel War that has killed hundreds of thousands of people in Israel and Palestine which would be impossible without a cease-fire because of how much the war has progressed. Trump’s economic policy has also had experts speak up on it because it is believed that it will cause a crash in the market because of the increased trade tax with China.
How do these political parties compare?
Each party benefits different people with policies directed to support the lower, middle, or upper classes. The average person in America is middle class but a lot of Trump and Vance’s policies support the rich and people who can afford a life in America with no struggles. Harris and Walz’s policies support many lower and middle classes who can afford the minimum. So far, Harris and Walz are ahead in the polls by 48% while Trump and Vance are 47.3%. Last week Harris and Walz were leading by 48.5% while Trump and Vance were behind again by 45%. These polls were captured by ABC News Project 538 in an article written by Maria Francis on NorthJersey.com. Once again, each candidate benefits different classes and people; deciding which candidate would help our country thrive more is important.
Now, how does this affect our school? Most of our schools are Hispanic or People of Color (POC) and LGBT+ and are usually very liberal with some exceptions. It is believed that most of the students who identify one way or the other, identify as a Democrat and it is believed that Harris’ policies will help our communities more compared to Trump’s policies that dehumanize POC, specifically Latinos. To help our school, Harris and Walz would be the best choices.
